In reality, society quickly establishes a pecking order that we live by every day. Even our conception can play a roll in how society values our life. The fetus of a loving couple is valued. The fetus of a chance encounter, not valued by many. The fetus of a rape, not valued by most. Yet they are all LIFE.

As the fetus develops society continues to judge the value of it’s life based on the stage of development it reaches. Those eager to protect a women’s right to choice have no problem doing so in the 1st trimester, but this eagerness diminishes as the fetus grows, to a point where even the most ardent pro-choice defender withdraws their support as the fetus reaches term.

This concept of “valuing life”, despite the obvious equality, continues as each life interacts with the rest of society. As a society, we value the people that influence society in a positive way. We are quick to kill those that are not like us. We place little value on the enemy combatant in war (not all kills are self-defense). We place little value on the life of a murderer or rapist (capital punishment).

In this day and age there are still examples of gender inequality. In the past, we placed little value on the lives of those that looked different from us.

We continue to place value on the lives of those among us that suffer from life-altering diseases and medical conditions. We debate the morality of euthanasia and mercy killings.

In a black and white world, a LIFE would always EQUAL a LIFE. For better or worse, we do not live in a black and white world as suggested by the title of my post.